Two weeks, two fights, two wins, two “Fight Night” bonus checks, and after his stunning UFC 116 submission of Yoshihiro Akiyama (13-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC), two second-round finishes.

At least as far as “The Crippler” remembers it.

“Afterward I was talking to my coaches, and I was like, ‘So what was that, like the end of the second round?'” Leben told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “He must have caught me in there because normally I remember fights like in slow-motion. I don’t even remember the whole thing. I’m going to have to watch the tape.”

Of course, it wasn’t the end of the second round. Instead, there were just 20 seconds remaining in the third and final frame of the tightly contested, back-and-forth, “Fight of the Night” bout. It was anybody’s fight at that point, as the previous 14 minutes and 40 seconds had been a roller-coaster affair.

Moments prior to the triangle-choke finish, Leben was laying on his back firing up punches with both hands simultaneously. At that moment, he said, he and Akiyama bonded as warriors.

“When I started to do the double-punch, I looked up at Akiyama, and he was smiling at me,” Leben said. “I know he knew it, too. It was like, ‘Yeah, we’re in a fight. This is good.'”

Good doesn’t begin to describe it. Great is more like it, and after trading toe-to-toe and chest-to-chest with the Japanese superstar, it’s easy to understand why Leben’s memory is a bit hazy.

“Chris Leben was literally knocked out standing straight up,” UFC president Dana White said after the fight. “I’ve only seen that a couple of times. Usually when that happens, the guy has to go down. He was knocked out standing up, and in typical Chris Leben fashion, all of a sudden you just saw him snap out of it and start hammering away.

“He is so fun to watch fight.”

Just like his “Knockout of the Night” fight with Aaron Simpson at The Ultimate Fighter 11 Finale just two weeks earlier, Leben found himself in trouble in the opening minutes of the contest. While Leben says he prides himself on ample takedown defense, Akiyama’s judo prowess left him scrambling.

“It’s just completely different,” Leben said. “His throws really threw me for a loop. It wasn’t a wrestling-type double- or single-leg. He really tied me up and he tripped me well.

“I rarely get taken down in the gym. I’m used to having world-class wrestlers shoot on me, and I can stuff them. His judo was more than I expected. I’m like, ‘No judo guy can throw me. I’m not wearing a gi, and I’ll punch him in his face.’ Obviously, that wasn’t the case.”

But a funny thing happened while Leben was fighting from his back. While the 29-year-old has always known as a potent striker, he proved that he’s also developed into a cerebral grappler.

Leben missed a handful of armbar attempts throughout the fight, but the failed maneuvers worked to ultimately set up the successful triangle choke.

“I do think a lot when I’m fighting, believe it or not,” Leben said. “When I went for the armbar, after that I was like, ‘He’s letting me walk my legs up and leave them up there. This guy’s going to let me triangle him.’ That’s when I decided I was going to go for the submission as opposed to just working to stand up.

“I heard my corner – sorry guys, I love you – they were yelling, ‘Stand up, stand up, stand up,’ but I knew that submission was there because he was letting me set it up.”

It was an emotional victory for Leben, and perhaps one that could signal a renaissance for the cast member of the original season of “The Ultimate Fighter.”

The significance of the 14-day span of his career was not lost on Leben – even if he may have forgotten a round or two along the way.

“It’s so overwhelming,” Leben said. “We train our whole lives. I laid in bed [Friday] night and cried because I want to win so bad. I don’t want to let my coaches and my corner down so much. Everyone has put so much into me.

“The emotion afterward is mind-boggling. I can’t explain it. There’s nothing like winning a fight in the UFC. There’s nothing like it in the world, period. … It’s been a long road, a somewhat bumpy one for me. This is huge. My career and my life are in better places right now than they’ve ever been.”